This chronicles my stories from studying abroad at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and working for a summer at BTU in Cottbus, Germany.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Exploration

Sorry for the complete lack of updates; I had to wait until Monday to get internet in my room, but now that I have it you get three for one because I have been writing blog entries in Word.I have been exploring the campus, which is gigantic and very pretty.There is a lake right in front of my building, with all paths and bridges around it, and birds EVERYWHERE.I need to take a minute to talk about the birds in Australia, because so far they are my favorite thing.They are huge, and there are a ton of different kinds, and because they live on my campus they aren’t exactly shy.There are these huge birds with long, curved beaks that just sit on the empty tables in cafes, and there are ones that look like turkeys (I have been calling them turkeybirds), and I saw a tree full of white birds that looked like parrots or something similar, I think I saw a pelican the other day, and then there are a ton of different kinds of water birds and ducks.They’re everywhere and they make me really happy.I will put up some pictures of them soon.Anyway, the other day I went out to Queen St Mall, which is a huge outdoor mall, like a party in the street, and I bought a cell phone.I am really proud of my cell phone.It is a cute little Samsung, that I went out into the city, on a bus, by myself, to buy with my own money, and I pay for it myself.It is 35 cents for me to send an international text message, so I probably won’t be sending too many, but I can receive them for free so if anyone wants to send one it would make me smile.Similarly I can receive calls for free, but I can’t imagine that anyone wants to call me in Australia, as it is a little expensive.Just in case, my phone number is: 0413 906 398.You also need to do 0011 and the country code, but I don’t know Australia’s country code.I also went out to the South Bank today to a little market (kind of like Eastern Market, for DC-ites) where they sold crafts and some local produce and all kinds of things.There’s also a man-made beach there, and a playhouse, and it looks like a fun place to visit.Brisbane itself is a great city.I love the river curving through everything, and according to my guidebook there is a lot to see.I found a walking-tour in my guidebook that I might go through next weekend (I start orientation today so there won’t be a ton of time).My exciting news for today is that as I was walking around campus aimlessly, someone asked me directions to Wordsmiths and I knew where it was and told them!I was pretty excited.

I will write about orientation soon, but I'll wait to give everyone time to catch up with these three posts.

awww, sounds so lovely! i hope you're still having a good time exploring. also, from my experience, most american cell phone service providers don't allow for international texting... so people can try to send them but they might not arrive. maybe australia is different from kenya though?

and why the hell would kansas shirts be in demand?

can't wait for more updates. by the way, congrats on liking sushi on the first try! hahaha.